Sam Smith & Tom Petty Settle Copyright Dispute

Sam Smith and Tom Petty have officially settled their copyright dispute, according to Rolling Stone. The song in question was Smith's 'Stay With Me' and Petty's 'I Won't Back Down.'

"Recently the publishers for the song 'I Won't Back Down,' written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, contacted the publishers for 'Stay With Me,' written by Sam Smith, James Napier and William Phillips, about similarities heard in the melodies of the choruses of the two compositions," a rep for Smith told the publication "Not previously familiar with the 1989 Petty/Lynne song, the writers of 'Stay With Me' listened to 'I Won't Back Down' and acknowledged the similarity."

"Although the likeness was a complete coincidence, all involved came to an immediate and amicable agreement in which Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne are now credited as co-writers of 'Stay With Me' along with Sam Smith, James Napier and William Phillips," they concluded.

Smith is the recent recipient of six Grammy Award nominations, including Album Of The Year for In The Lonely Hour, Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for "Stay With Me," and Best New Artist. He also received nominations in the categories of Best Pop Vocal Album (In The Lonely Hour) and Best Pop Solo Performance ("Stay With Me"). Smith is the first male artist in 34 years, and the first male artist ever to earn nominations in the "Big Four" General Field Grammy categories following the release of a debut album.

Other recent accolades for Smith include his being named iTunes Best New Artist of 2014, MTV selecting him as its number one artist of the year (Best Artist on its year-end "Best Of 2014" Top 10 lists), and "Stay With Me" earning the #1 slot on Amazon's Best 50 Songs of 2014.

The 22-year-old artist paid tribute to Frank Sinatra with a stunning performance of the legendary singer's Capitol Records classic "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" on "A Very GRAMMY Christmas," a one-hour entertainment special that aired earlier this month on CBS. Smith's rendition, which was delivered on the rooftop of Capitol Records' historic Hollywood tower, is available now at all digital partners.

Smith made chart history in the U.S. with In The Lonely Hour, which sold more copies in its first week of release than any other U.K. male artist debut in the 23-year history of SoundScan. It entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2 and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.

Over the course of 2014, Smith has won the BRIT Critics' Choice award, the BBC Sound of 2014 prize, Favorite Male Artist Pop/Rock honors at the American Music Awards, a Q award, four MOBOs and the VH1 2014 You Oughta Know Artist Of The Year award. He will return to the U.S. in January 2015 for his third North American headline tour in less than a year. The arena and theatre run includes a concert at Madison Square Garden and a two-night stand The Forum in Los Angeles.

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